KathyManface

After spending the night in hospital with my daughter, who is very unwell but not life threatening, I don’t want to hear another word about how great the nhs is. The nurses have not looked after her at all. Loud unnecessary conversations throughout the night, lazy can’t be arsed attitudes, no explanation of what’s happening, at all, no desire to offer reassurance or comfort, not one question about whether she wants to sit up or lie down. We are being made to feel like everything is too much and we should be grateful for less than the absolute minimum. She asked for more pain killers, as it’s been six hours. “We will come at six, as it must be six hours unless you’re in pain” (it can actually be four) we explained the doctor says to make it regular, she’s also had morphine and that she is in a lot of pain. “If you dont wait until six the next lot will be hours and hours and hours” I ask what time the last lot was as we think it’s been a really long time. “11:13, so she can wait until six, unless she’s in pain” I say that that’s six hours ago. “Yes so at six we will come round” I have to say “no, at six it’ll be nearly seven hours, she’s in pain now, please can you go and get the pain relief now” She goes. When she returns, rather than coming round to the side of her bed to give a patient medicine, on a drip, she leans from the bottom of the bed and motions for my daughter to get up and take it from her. I have to remind the nurse that she’s in hospital because she’s unwell and in agony. “Oh I didn’t know, I’m new to this ward” this ward is uneventful, nothing is happening. She must have read my daughter’s chart to give her the tablets. What sort of nurse gives tablets from the bottom of a bed?!?! Imagine I wasn’t here? How many patients would have felt despite the pain they should take it from her? Imagine my daughter was a frail or vulnerable patient? The entire experience has been god awful. The hospital is very empty, with wards full lit with no patients in them. It’s utterly utterly shit.